More than his father's son
Colleen McCarthy
Associate News Editor
Editor's note: This is the first in a series of four presidential candidate profiles leading up to the New Hampshire primary.
George W. Bush, the former managing general partner of the Texas Rangers baseball team and current governor of Texas, sees himself in a league of his own amidst the field of Republican candidates vying for the party's presidential nomination.
The amount of money Bush has raised for his campaign in hope of capturing the Republican party nomination and then the White House has helped in allowing Bush to establish himself as the front-runner among other potential Republican nominees such as Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), Steve Forbes and Allen Keyes.
The key to Bush's success seems to be identifying himself as a moderate Republican, calling himself a "compassionate conservative." This political ideology has distanced him from candidates such as McCain and Forbes who take more conservative stances on economic and social issues.
Patricia Fava, communications director for the Alexandria, Va.-based American Conservative Union, said Bush is taking the right approach in appealing to conservative voters.
"[Bush] spoke to our group over the weekend and the consensus among those in attendance about the speech he gave was that it had Reagan-esque qualities," she said. "He was eloquent yet at the same time answering questions that were in our minds. He struck a strong chord with conservatives in the crowd."
Although Bush has been accused by Forbes as not taking a more "conservative" stance on economic and social issues, Fava said Bush made it clear in his speech that despite his more "compassionate" approach, his Republican leanings are not a facade.
"The perception has been among conservatives that Bush may not be a conservative, but he cleared that up for members of our group this weekend," said Fava.
Patrick Pierce, associate professor of political science at Saint Mary's College, said if Bush wins the Republican party nomination, he may be forced to grapple with the problem of appeasing members of the extreme right in the Republican party.
Bush will have to try and pacify those cultural conservatives in the party for now," he said. "But if he wins the party's nomination, as he makes his bid for the presidential election in November, he will have to put a gag on those people.
"It's not as though Bush has always towed the Republican party line, but he has party connections that he has used to keep the cultural conservatives in the party from revolting."
Accused in previous months of being vague on giving a stance on issues, Bush may be able to continue with this approach.
"If things are going well, expect Bush to run a very vague, compassionate conservative campaign," said Pierce. "If he does this, it will be an indication that things are going swimmingly for him."
Last week, Bush cleared up questions surrounding his stance on abortion, reassuring members of the Christian right in the Republican Party that he shares their views.
Bush said he would not make a pledge to appoint a vice president or judges who were pro-life but wanted them first and foremost to be qualified for the position. He said that legalizing abortions should be up to state legislatures and should not have been decided by the federal government. Bush also said he would work to encourage fewer abortions through encouraging adoptions and abstinence education.
Fava said in coming months, candidates may be forced to become more specific in their stance on issues.
"As the campaigns go on, candidates have to start defining themselves not by broad-based specifics, but get down to the nitty gritty in what they believe," said Fava.
Taking a moderate conservative stance on issues has its price for Bush. If Bush wins the Republican presidential nomination, some worry that he may not be able to distinguish himself enough from the democratic nominee, particularly if it is Vice President Al Gore.
Since the country has enjoyed a strong economy under a president who is a Democrat, voters may not feel the need to elect a Republican, said Sean Savage, associate professor of political science at Saint Mary's.
"With the current state of the economy and foreign policy, the plurality of the voters in the middle could decide, `Let's play it safe and keep things the way they are and elect Gore,'" said Savage.
The economic prosperity enjoyed under President Clinton may not be enough to convince voters to elect another Democrat, said Fava.
"America as a whole has had so much thrown at it over the past seven years that I don't know if Gore could distance himself enough from Clinton to win the White House," said Fava.
Pierce said voters may not reward potential democratic nominees for the thriving economy.
"I'm not sure how much of a benefit the economic prosperity will be for Gore or Bradley," said Pierce. "I'm not sure that Bush will have to do much different in the way of running his campaign if he wins the Republican nomination."
After winning the Republican race in the Iowa caucus Monday, Bush has a strong momentum carrying him into the New Hampshire primary on Feb. 1.
"He's really in the driver's seat and it would be surprising if he lost New Hampshire," said Pierce. "Even if things didn't develop well in New Hampshire and he didn't win by a large margin, none of the opponents on the Republican side can mount a viable challenge to him."
Bush is also using his moderate Republican record as governor of Texas, an office he has held since 1994, to his advantage. Bush has focused on education and crime during his time in office in Texas. Many of the initiatives Bush has signed into law focus on limited government and local control.
In 1995, he signed into law a new education code that decentralized public education, restoring control to local school districts and passed an initiative to end social promotion in schools.
Bush also abolished mandatory release for criminal offenders and passed the "two strikes and you're out" law for sexual offenders. The law requires that after the conviction of a second violent sex offense, offenders receive an automatic life in prison sentence and no parole.
All News Stories for Tuesday, January 25, 2000
